What you WON'T read about in this blog: Firings, layoffs, dwindling circulation figures, and embarrassing headlines.
What you WILL read about in this blog: Reports on the whereabouts and activities of those who have left U.S. daily newspapers and have blazed a new path for themselves outside of the newsroom.

Politics

12/16/2013

So as the curtain is about to come crashing down on 2013, I checked in with some news organizations to find out which story drew the most web traffic.

It was, after all, a shocking year: with two bombs exploding at the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, which killed three and injured 264 others; disquieting revelations that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been conducting a mass surveillance program; and stunning news that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected pope, becoming the first Jesuit pope, the first pope from the Americas, and the first pope from the Southern Hemisphere. He took the name Francis, becoming the 266th pope and the 265th successor to St. Peter.

What was most surprising from this survey, at least to me, are the formats of content that is most appealing to readers of online news sites. As will become abundantly clear from the list below, photo galleries and innovative visual presentations seems to be the flavor of the day.

Chris Quinn, Vice President of Content for the Northeast Ohio Media Group, the company that leads the digitally focused news operation at The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio, informs me that ``when we set out in August to transition more fully into the digital universe, one of our key goals was to make better use of digital tools.'' ``The top 5 pieces in traffic'' Quinn said, `` so far this year demonstrate that this community very much wants to experience stories in multiple formats.'' The top two items that drove the most traffic at the Plain Dealer's site (Cleveland.com) were photo galleries.

Similarly, Nancy Sullivan, Vice President of Communications at the Los Angeles Times, said 43% of their web traffic on Oscar night (the story of the year that drew the most web traffic) came from mobile devices; while 54% of traffic on Oscar Sunday was driven by photo galleries, such as their dazzling Red Carpet Arrivals gallery.

What follows, then, are the top stories of 2013 (based on page views or most web traffic) that was provided to me by different news organizations and popular online sites.

Top Stories of 2013

• The Guardian: The identity of an American computer specialist, a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee, and former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, who leaked up to 200,000 classified documents to the press, primarily involving a mass NSA surveillance program, is revealed for the first time by The Guardian.Edward Snowden told the British national daily newspaper in a taped interview posted on its website: ``I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things.''

• Bloomberg News: Their EXCLUSIVE ``Boston Bomb Victim in Photo Helped Identify Suspects’’ generated the most page views of the year at Bloomberg.com. The story reports Jeff Bauman’s face-to-face confrontation with one of the Boston Marathon bombers may have turned up key clues in the FBI's manhunt of the perpetrators.

• The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio reported on one of the most sensational criminal cases in U.S. history, when it was learned in May that three local women: Amanda Berry, Georgina ``Gina'' DeJesus, and Michelle Knight were rescued in a house they were held captive in by Ariel Castro since their disappearance between 2002 and 2004. Castro was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole, but was later found dead in his jail cell (from an apparent suicide), on September 3rd of this year. The events that transpired on Seymour Avenue was captured in a Plain Dealer Photo Gallery, which generated 1.5 million page views, the most popular item at Cleveland.com for 2013.

The second most popular item on its website was another photo gallery, and another remarkable story drawing worldwide attention, surrounding Scott Nagy, a terminal cancer patient who with the help of the University Hospital medical staff (on October 12th) was able to give his daughter away on her wedding day, while lying on a hospital gurney and using a respirator. Nagy died two weeks later.

The third most popular story was The Plain Dealer’s page one splash that Berry, DeJesus, and Knightwere found alive , while the 4th most popular was an audio of the 9-1-1 call by Amanda Berry.

• CNN'sPhoto Gallery: ``People We Lost in 2013'' generated 90 million page views, according to a company spokesperson.

• The most popular story on The Wall Street Journal's website for 2013 dealt with a group of men in their 40's, despite having moved on—to college, careers, families and new cities, have been playing ``tag'' , the playground game for 23 years.

• At Time Magazine's website, the most popular item of the year was a creative interactive article, which invited readers to take a test in order to discover which of the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia best suits their personality trait. Did you know, for example, that West Virginia is the most neurotic state, Utah is the most agreeable and inhabitants of Wisconsin are the country's most extroverted?

• The most popular story at ESPN.com in 2013 was Wright Thompson’s ``Outside the Lines’’-branded story “Michael Jordan Has Not Left The Building” with 2.6 million page views.

• The two top stories of 2013 at FoxNews.com dealt with the Boston Marathon Bombing. Their 3rd and 4th most popular items for the year were captured in photo galleries: the first about a fertilizer plant explosion in the town of West, Texas, which killed up to 15, injuring more than 160 ; and another about a 10-ton meteor that streaked at supersonic speed over Russia's Ural Mountains, setting off blasts that injured nearly 1,100 people.

• The top story at New York Magazine's website for 2013 was an article written by Joe Jonas, the American pop singer, musician, actor, and dancer, reflecting about his life as a Jonas Brother.

The 2nd most popular article was an amusing feature by Maureen O’Connor, chronicling how thanks to social media, ex-boyfriends are harder than ever to avoid. And the 3rd most popular story at NYMag.com was Joe Hagan's feature on Matt Lauer and the dysfunctional family atmosphere at NBC’s Today Show.

• The Miami Herald: The most viewed story at MiamiHerald.com dealt with members of the Miami Gardens police who were caught on camera arresting the same suspects over and over again, at times arresting them for trespassing even though they have permission to be on the premises; officers conducting searches of places of business without proper search warrants; using excessive force on subjects who are not resisting arrest; and other cases of filing inaccurate police reports in connection with the arrests.

• The Los Angeles Times: LATimes.com's digital strategy for its Oscars coverage (February 24th) , which focused on a real second-screen experience, including on-location blogging, tweeting, live video broadcasts from the newsroom during the ceremony’s commercial breaks, social media-based balloting, photography, and other in-depth reporting, resulted in a two-day (Sun & Mon) overall traffic numbers of 34.6 million page views, eclipsing last year's 2-day Oscar record of 21.4 million.

• Dallas Morning News: The most popular item at DallasNews.com was a profile on retiring school teacher, Dale Irby, from Titche Elementary in the Pleasant Grove area of Dallas, who wore the same 1970s-era polyester shirt and coffee-colored sweater for the school picture for the last 40 years. The article is accompanied with a photo gallery of Irby, showing that while his face might have changed over the last four decades, his attire for the school picture remained the same.

• New York Daily News: The most viewed story at NYDailyNews.com was the uproar that erupted over the death of Minnesota Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson's two-year old son after he had been beaten two days earlier, allegedly by his mother's boyfriend.

The second most viewed story at the Daily News’ website was Jets' coach Rex Ryan being spotted sun bathing, while sporting a tattoo that resembled his wife wearing Mark Sanchez’s no. 6 green jersey.

• Newsday: The top local story at Newsday.com came back in September when a vendor, Sang Ho Kim, 63, opened fire, killing one man and critically wounding another at an East Garden City company, terrorizing a busy shopping and business district as police hunted into the night for the killer.

• ProPublica, the independent non-profit investigative newsroom that produces journalism in the public interest, said its most viewed story of the year dealt with a feature about two ``cradle Democrats’’ and passionate supporters of President Obama who had their health insurance cancelledbecause it did not meet the requirements of the Affordable Care Act.

Their second most view story concerned an alarming investigation, which reported that more than 1,500 Americans died after accidentally taking too much of a drug renowned for its safety: acetaminophen, one of the nation’s most popular pain relievers.

• FBI.Gov: The FBI's top story of the year was the item that offered a $5 million reward to anyone who can help them locate 13 items stolen from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, including rare paintings by Rembrandt, Degas, and Vermeer. The items were originally stolen on March 18, 1990, representing the largest property crime in U.S. history.

• Cook Political Report: The astute Amy Walter, National Editor of The Cook Political Report,wondered back in April, if the Affordable Care Act or ObamaCare, when open enrollment begins in October, will shift the simmering debate from immigration and gun reform to the perils of President Obama’s signature legislation as Americans begin to see their premiums rise. The potential ``sleeper issue of 2014'' was the most viewed column of the year at Cookpolitical.com.

• At The Smoking Gun, the most viewed story of the year concerned a hacker, using the online alias "Guccifer"breaking into the Bush family e-mail accounts, swiping private correspondence and personal photos, including sensitive emails about George H.W. Bush’s recent hospitalization.

• Weather Channel: At Weather.com, the most viewed article of the year was a fascinating presentation of rare photos of different styles of bathing suits at the beaches, particularly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, well before the introduction of the bikini in 1946.

12/08/2013

There are rules of grammar, essential rules of etiquette, rules governing mandatory health insurance, after the housing collapse-there are now new rules of real estate; Baseball, our National Pastime, will likely approve new rules for the 2014 season; even our favorite social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter have their own set of rules.

So if you are one of those individuals who live by the rules and die by the rules-you’ll probably want to dip into Paul Dickson’s new book: ``The Official Rules: 5,427 Laws, Principles, and Axioms to Help You Cope with Crisis, Deadlines, Bad Luck, Rude Behavior, Red Tape, and Attacks by Inanimate Objects.’’

Beginning in 1976, for reasons known only to himself, Mr. Dickson inserted dividers into a shoebox and started gathering rules that govern our twisted universe, from the ridiculous to the sublime on small sheets of paper. This new enterprise of collecting rules on everything and anything imaginable under the sun was given the flamboyant title: ``The Murphy Center for the Codification of Human and Organizational Law,’’a spin-off, of course, on Murphy’s Law (``Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong" ). Dickson took the liberty of appointing himself its first director; and beginning in 1989, he was promoted to ``Director for Life.’’

Over the decades, this Yonkers, New York native began collecting contributions from journalists, self-proclaimed prophets and philosophers, along with everyday observers of life’s little foibles from sea to shining sea. Of particular help to him have been writer Fred Dryer, Wall Street Journal columnist, Alan Otten, Jack Womeldorf of the Library of Congress; Robert Specht of the RAND Corp; the John Erhman file at Stanford University, and the University of Arizona Computing Center.

Armed with two dozen shoeboxes and two file drawers, in 1978, the Center published its first book: ``The Official Rules’’ alphabetically arranged with special sections. The book took off like a Boeing jumbo jet.

Within just a few months of its release, thousands of letters from readers, listing their personal maxims, rules, principles etc., numbering about 5,000, came pouring in. With so much new material, Dickson turned out a number of magazine articles, including 10 for the Washingtonian magazine between 1978 and 1996. And in 1989, another edition hit the bookstores: ``The New Official Rules.’’

At the dawn of the 21st century, the responses Dickson was receiving continued to be overwhelming, especially in the computer age-when swarms of letters turned into a mountain of emails.

So as we cope with the many trials and tribulations of a new millineuium with its fresh set of challenges and new obstacles and with an eye toward reminding ourselves, now and again, that not everyone’s perfect (even Betty Crocker burned a few cakes) , Dickson has published yet another updated edition of ``The Official Rules.’’

Paul Dickson should be no stranger to readers, especially if you’re a baseball fan. ``The Dickson Baseball Dictionary,’’ which has been published in three editions (1989, 1999, 2009) was described by the Wall Street Journal in 2010 as one of the six best baseball books ever published. In addition to publishing scores of books on baseball and 20th century history, Dickson has authored more than 45 nonfiction books, including: `` Drunk: The Definitive Drinker's Dictionary'', ``Journalese: A Dictionary for Deciphering the News'',``Slang: A Topical Dictionary of Americanisms’ ‘and ``Toasts: Over 1,500 of the Best Toasts, Sentiments, Blessings, and Graces.''

In 2012 Dickson was awarded the Henry Chadwick Award from the Society for Baseball Research (SABR) for his lifetime achievements as a baseball researcher and scholar; and in 2011, he was the recipient of the Tony Salin Award from the Baseball Reliquary for his contributions to the preservation of the history of the game.

A founding member and former president of Washington Independent Writers and a member of the National Press Club, Dickson lives in Garrett Park, Maryland with his wife Nancy who works as his first line editor, and financial manager.

So to give you a sense of some of the many gems tucked between the covers of Dickson’s ``Official Rules’’, I listed some which caught my eye:

-Long established motto of Chicago’s City News Bureau, organized a century ago by several newspaper publishers and closed in 2005. It was known for its demanding training of young reporters, including Mike Royko and Seymour Hersh.

Cook’s Rule: ``All politics is local, except when it isn’t.’’

-Charlie Cook, Editor and Publisher of the ``Cook Political Report.’’

Crisp’s Creed: ``Don’t keep up with the Joneses; drag them down, it’s cheaper.’’

-Quentin Crisp: from Richard Isaac, M.D., Toronto, Canada.

Dickens Discovery on Justice: ``If there were no bad people, there would be no good lawyers.’’

Bill Lucey's Proverbial Bill of Rights: 1.) ``'Tis impossible to be sure of any thing, but Death, Taxes, and a new Reality Show.'' 2.) ``He who hesitates is last.'' 3.) ``A journey of a thousand miles begins at Terminal 1, Boarding Area B, Gate 20 of United Airlines.'' 4.) ``A fool and his money are soon partying to the wee hours of the morning.'' 5.) ``If at first you don’t succeed-pack up your tent and quit.’’ 6.) ``No news is either good news or a sure sign your local newspaper just folded.’’

12/04/2013

Prescient words spoken by Lyndon Johnson from L.A.’s Biltmore Hotel in 1960, when he first learned Jack Kennedy was considering him as his running mate.

Some within LBJ’s inner-circle feared if he hitched his wagon to the Camelot candidate and they captured the White House-Johnson would be stripped of the power he had grown so accustomed to in the Senate and left with little influence in shaping public policy.

``Power is, where power goes’’ LBJ told Sam Rayburn, the gruff and abrasive fellow Texan, on the other end of the phone, who was urging his protégé not to, under any circumstances, accept a VP spot if it was offered, like the Speaker of the House feared.

What really transpired between Bobby Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson at the Democratic Convention in 1960 at the Biltmore Hotel, when John Kennedy’s younger brother and campaign manager made three trips (at least three trips) up and down the back stairs between Room 9333(Kennedy’s suite, on the 9th floor) and Room 7333 (Johnson’s suite, on the 7th floor) probably will never be fully known.

A number of convincing scenarios presented by Caro based on accounts of people who were there at the time, however, suggest RFK, who despised LBJ, (dating back to the first time their eyes locked like two wild animals in the Senate cafeteria in 1953), desperately tried to get Johnson to withdraw from the ticket even after John Kennedy personally offered it to him and convinced the Senate leader he wanted and needed him as his running mate. At one point, Bobby Kennedy, in a frantic state with his light brown hair ruffled as it drooped down over his forehead in yet another attempt to get Johnson to withdraw, went eyeball-to-eyeball with the steely-eyed Sam Rayburn. ``Are you authorized to speak for Jack Kennedy’’? Bobby, clearly caught off guard, grudgingly said, ``no.’’ ``Then come back when you are!’’ Rayburn growled.

The explosive Biltmore Hotel clash was a case study in the stark contrast between Jack and Bobby Kennedy. Bobby, at least in 1960, was rough around the edges, governed largely by his intense passions and his volcanic grudges. Jack, on the other hand, was more cerebral and refined with an amazing ability to put animosity aside when it came to getting what he wanted. What he wanted was the White House and he knew he absolutely had to have Texas and by extension LBJ to win the White House. JFK’s instincts, again, were right on the money; JFK/LBJ took Texas and probably wouldn’t have won the election without the Lone Star State. As Caro points out, in 1956, Eisenhower had taken 5 of the 11 confederate states in 1956, one of those was Texas.

This sets the stage for high drama and a mighty compelling narrative of Robert Caro’s brilliant fourth volume on LBJ: ``Passage of Power.’’ The years covered in this volume covers 1958 through 1964 or the 47 days after President Kennedy’s assassination.

A fifth and final volume is in the works and will cover LBJ’s landside victory over Barry Goldwater, the unveiling of his ``Great Society’’ programs, and the catastrophic Vietnam years, culminating in losing the confidence of the American people and his stunning decision not to seek a second term.

Interestingly, when Caro, a former Newsday investigative reporter, began researching ``Passage of Power’’ 10 years ago, he thought this would be his final volume. It gradually became apparent that the Kennedy assassination and the first seven weeks of Johnson’s presidency needed more attention, much more attention, than the Pulitzer-Prize winning historian had anticipated.

I’m embarrassed to admit I just got around to Caro’s monumental work-even though it was released well over a year ago. If there are any keen observers of the U.S. presidency, especially involving the administrations of JFK and LBJ, who haven’t yet dipped into ``Passage of Power’’, I would recommend you push it to the very top of your Christmas list. It might very well be one of the best presents you’ve given yourself in quite some time.

Unlike others who have written about U.S. presidents, Caro had little interest in writing a biography of Lyndon Johnson, the man and what makes him tick. Caro has devoted 35 years of his life researching LBJ, dating back to 1977.

Rather, he was more interested in writing about political power; specifically an examination of political power in a time of crisis. Long after many of us are dead and buried, there will be scores of college students, some future politicians, journalists, and historians, assigned to read Caro’s brilliant series and come away with a sharper understanding of how power truly worked in the nation’s capital in the 20th century.

Given this country’s strong sense of Manifest Destiny and living the American Dream, it’s truly a compelling narrative when you take a closer look at the circumstances under which LBJ suddenly (and tragically) propelled to power on a warm, sunny Dallas day without a cloud in the sky before the 35th president was fatally struck down by three bullets on November 22, 1963.

Lyndon Johnson, as Caro so dramatically describes, was a tragic figure really, who always lived in fear of failure and being humiliated, much like his father, who went bankrupt, losing their Texas ranch and sending his family to the depths of despair and poverty with Lyndon and his brother and younger sister forced to wear patches, mere rags substituting for clothing. As Senate Majority Leader for six years, LBJ was arguably the second most powerful man in the country, second only to Dwight Eisenhower. A piece of legislation didn’t make it to the floor until Johnson said it would make it to the floor; and when he wanted a bill passed, something he felt strongly about, the bill usually passed as he whipped everyone into line like a herd of cattle on his Texas ranch.

Now a member of the Kennedy Administration and despite being promised a prominent role, Johnson soon realized just how powerless he had become. For three years, JFK rarely shared sensitive overseas cables with him, he needed permission (usually from Bobby Kennedy) for travel trips, speeches, and the most mundane and trivial tasks. At times, he wasn’t invited to White House parties, other times when he vented his complaint to Kennedy in a White House memo about his lack of responsibility, the president simply ignored it. And around the White House within JFK’s Ivy League inner-circle, Johnson was snickered at and made fun of. He was referred to as ``Rufus Cornpone’’ and when with Lady Bird Johnson, ``Uncle Cornpone and his little pork chop.’’ Face to face, he was rarely spoken to as Mr. Vice President, simply Lyndon. Despite the humiliation, Caro points out, there was a reason Johnson was kept on such a short leash. President Kennedy once confessed to a White House aide that LBJ’s hawkishness, which was in full bloom during the Cuban Missile Crisis meetings, scared the living daylights out of him.

For three long years, LBJ was largely put out to pasture as a VP. He looked gaunt, haggard, his eyes sunken, as if his best days were behind him. And it only got worse. As November, 1963 approached, there was a buzz filling the air that Kennedy wanted to drop LBJ from the 1964 ticket. The thinking was the vice president had become so marginalized, and his Texas star had dropped so precipitously that he was doing Kennedy little good. Besides, the Kennedy team had practically written off the South (as southern Democrats had grown more militant over civil rights) and were setting their sights westward, and thought about tapping Pat Brown, governor of California. Even if Texas was still in play, the consensus was John Connally, a wildly popular Texas governor, would be a better fit than LBJ.

So this was the backdrop, leading up to that star-crossed Dallas trip in November. Johnson, all too aware of the ``Dump LBJ’’ mantra, certainly must have felt the walls caving in around him as he stepped foot on Texas soil. No longer leader of the Senate, a weak link in the Kennedy administration; just weeks from fading into the sunset, out of sight and out of mind; before three loud bangs in rapid succession were heard in Dealey Plaza, the historic West end district of downtown Dallas, catapulted him in a blink of an eye to the most powerful political office in the world.

Caro is at his masterful best describing the transfer of power in perhaps the four most memorable days in U.S. history, from the time of Kennedy being pronounced dead up through the funeral-a full military procession, including the Marine Band as the slow moving cortege reached the front of the White House.

It’s fascinating to learn the immediate makeover of Lyndon Johnson. From the moment he left Parkland Hospital on his way to being sworn in on Air Force One as the 36th president of the United States-his posture had completely been transformed: no longer with the haggard look, his posture was more erect, the swaying in his gait suspended; he now walked in a slower more measured step.

As tragic as November 22nd, 1963 was, LBJ knew exactly what was expected of him and what to do the moment he learned the president was dead.

The eyes of the world were on him, especially from the Soviet Union; they wanted to know if there would be a smooth transfer of power and a sense of continuity.

For 47 days after Kennedy’s assassination, LBJ made sure continuity and stability were the order of the day. His tyrannical outbursts, verbal badgering of staffers, humiliating subordinates, would come later in his presidency. For these crucial seven weeks, LBJ assured the American people, the JFK dream would endure and he was merely carrying the torch. ``Let us carry forward the plans and programs of John Fitzgerald Kennedy—not because of our sorrow or sympathy, but because they are right’’ Johnson intoned during a thunderous State of the Union Speech on January 8, 1964. ``In his memory today’’, Johnson went on to say, ``I especially ask all members of my own political faith, in this election year, to put your country ahead of your party, and to always debate principles; never debate personalities.’’

To put their country above personality was essentially the same line LBJ with his folksy southern charm used to Kennedy’s inner-circle in order to make sure the Dean Rusk’s, the Ted Sorenson's, the Robert McNamara's, the Pierre Salinger's, even making sure Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. Kennedy’s ``court historian'' didn’t abruptly submit their resignations so that ``continuity and stability’’ would be sustained.

Keeping the Kennedy staff together while working around the clock in back deals and wheeling and dealing with southern Senate Democrats to get Kennedy’s tax cut bill passed; and another key piece of civil rights legislation passed, set the table for LBJ’s landside victory.

LBJ was back in the saddle again; he was now setting the agenda, twisting and pulling Congressional members toward quick passage of his domestic agenda, particularly his ``War on Poverty’’, enunciated in his powerful State of the Union address.

When Johnson accepted Jack Kennedy’s offer to be his vice president at the Biltmore Hotel, many thought it was intended to dethrone the powerful Texan of his Senate Majority seat, where he otherwise would have been a major roadblock to many of Kennedy’s programs; and to keep him on a short leash as vice president, far away from the sinews of power.

At the time, John Kennedy, or the world for that matter, surely weren’t aware of an LBJ truism: ``Power is where power goes.’’

11/14/2013

As we inch closer and closer to the 50 year anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the tributes, commemoration events, special documentaries, the resurrection of conspiracy theories, chilling photo galleries and video footage of that ill-fated day, will be coming thick and fast from newspapers, online news sites, blogs, and television networks in the days ahead.

It doesn’t really seem to matter how many books and articles you’ve read, the amount of documentaries and stacks of pictures you’ve sifted through-what took place in a blink of an eye at about 1:30 EST on November 22, 1963, when the 35th president of the United States was ruthlessly gunned down, presumably by a lone assassin, while his motorcade traveled through Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas-is best relived by the people who remember that painfully dark, tragic Friday afternoon and are still around to share their vivid recollections.

As a result, I reached out to some of my favorite journalists and asked if they could recall where they were and what they were doing when JFK was assassinated.

Here, then, are some shared memories.

``I was at the St. Louis Globe-Democrat that Friday putting the finishing touches on a major weekend feature piece on how Barry Goldwater could win in '64. When the news came in, I told the editor we had to kill the piece completely. I saw the report on the ticker, and we headed for the TV room, just off the newsroom to watch it all. Some of the women were crying.''

-Pat Buchanan, a senior advisor to three U.S. presidents, is an American conservative political commentator, author, syndicated columnist, broadcaster and author of 10 books, including: ``Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?''

``I was working and covering the story for The Washington Star—I took David Broder’s dictation from Dallas (he was The Star’s political reporter at the time; I was a ‘dictation-clerk’—one step above copyboy, essentially an apprentice reporter), then and was sent to Capitol Hill, then outside the White House that Friday night, and on through the events ending with JFK’s funeral and burial at Arlington. (I’d gone to work for The Star as a copyboy when I was 16, during the Kennedy campaign in 1960, actually; I was 19 at the time of the assassination).''

-Carl Bernstein, American investigative journalist and author, who has recently agreed to write a memoir of his years as a cub reporter in Washington, titled: “The Washington Star,” which is scheduled to be released in 2016.

``I was in New Haven, CT in my junior year in a class on French history. The professor was lecturing on the Terror and the counter-revolution. Someone went up and handed him a note. It seemed very rude. You never interrupted a lecture. He looked at it and read, "The note I have been handed says that President Kennedy and Vice President Johnson have been shot in Dallas." Pause. "Class dismissed." We all went to a television to watch Walter Cronkite announce that Kennedy had died.''

-Bob Woodward, American investigative journalist and non-fiction author who has worked for The Washington Post since 1971, and now holds the position of associate editor. Woodward's most recent book, ``The Price of Politics'' (a book chronicling the hostile turf battles between the executive and legislative branches in repairing the battered U.S. economy) was his 17th.

``I was a 14-year-old at Alice Deal Junior High in Washington, DC, decorating the gym with fellow student council members for a school dance that night. The school was largely deserted because it was a half day, due to a city wide public school teachers' meeting that had ended classes at noon. My friends and I heard the news from the school janitor who heard it on the radio. We found it hard to fathom -- maybe the story had been garbled? -- and had no access to television. So we decided to go home and find out what was going on. I will never forget walking on to Nebraska Avenue to catch a bus home and seeing how slowly the cars were moving -- not because of traffic but because clearly drivers were shocked by the news they were hearing on their car radios. I knew at that moment that the horrible bulletin we'd heard was true.''

-Frank Rich, American essayist, former New York Times op-ed columnist & writer, who is now an essayist and editor-at-large for New York magazine.

``I was in the third grade and my parents let me skip school that day, the family was driving from our home in Shreveport, La. to Fayetteville Ark. to go to the University of Arkansas (my Father and both sisters alma mater) vs. Texas Tech football game. We had the car radio on and as we drove through Texarkana we heard the first bulletin that shots had been fired at the President's motorcade and each of the subsequent ones (including one that reported that both the President and Vice President Johnson had been shot). At one point, my Dad stopped the car and went into a bar to see if television had any more information (it didn't). We were unsure whether to keep going to Fayetteville (would the game even be played?) or turn around and go home. It was a major debate all over the countrywhether sporting events should be held or not. The general conclusion was that the President would have wanted games to go on so I think a few were cancelled. I don't remember who won the game.’’

-Charlie Cook, Editor and Publisher of the Cook Political Report and a political analyst for National Journal magazine, where he writes a twice weekly column.

``I was a student in political science and economics at McGill University in Montreal, and word reached the campus just as we were going into the first class of the afternoon -- on American history. We assumed the class would be cancelled, but the professor arrived on time, opened his notes, and said in a low, unstrained voice that he had changed the sequence of lectures, and would that day be speaking on a topic he had scheduled for the following term -- "Violence in the history of the American south". He made no mention of JFK or what had happened, and we sat there stunned, and silent. It was an unusual form of eulogy, but very powerful, and I can remember much of what he said that day today, 50 years on.''

-John F. Burns, British journalist, winner of two Pulitzer Prizes and Chief Foreign Correspondent of The New York Times based in London.

``I was discharged from the Army on Nov. 21, 1963, Fort Hood, Texas. In the days leading up, I wrote to many papers. I had worked on a small paper before getting drafted two years earlier. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote back. They had a general assignment position open. The managing editor invited me for an interview. We set it up for the day after I was discharged. I would stop in St. Louis on my way home to Cleveland. We scheduled the interview for 2 p.m. on Friday, November 22, 1963.

I passed through Dallas Thursday evening. Went right through Dealey Plaza, right past the Texas School Book Depository. Got to St. Louis at 6 a.m. Friday. I got a few hours of shut-eye at the Statler Hotel that morning. Still have the receipt-$6.50 for a serviceman in uniform. Got out of the shower at 12:30. Had the black and white TV on for company. Noontime programming on KMOX-TV was a lady playing the piano. Suddenly, she stopped playing and an off-screen voice said the President had just been shot in Dallas.

Selfishly, my first thought was about myself. All job interviews would be cancelled. I called the managing editor's office. I talked to his secretary. We agreed that I would fly home the next morning and I would call them in about a week to reschedule. I flew home to Cleveland Saturday.

After the 12 o'clock Mass at St. Clement Church in Lakewood that Sunday, I ran into an old family friend from the parish, J. Ralph Novak, who had once been a reporter for the Cleveland News. He was still in touch with his old newspaper friends. He told me that The Plain Dealer had an opening in sports. He said he would call sports editor Gordon Cobbledick and tell him I would be calling. I called Cobbledick Monday morning. He said come on down for an interview. I did and I got the job. They're still waiting for me to call them back in St. Louis. ‘’

-Dan Coughlin, who has covered the Cleveland sports scene for 45 years, is a former sportswriter for The Plain Dealer (1964–1982) and was additionally a broadcaster and commentator for WJW-TV 8 in Cleveland (1983–2009). Coughlin was inducted into the Press Club of Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame in 1996.

***

JFK Assassination Facts:

The type of gun used to kill Kennedy was a 6.5 millimeter Mannlicher-Carcano Italian military rifle, Model 91/38, Serial No: C2766. It's currently stored at the National Archives in College Park, MD., along with his shirt, the original windshield of the limousine, and the wrapping used to support his back.

The presidential limousine (1961 Lincoln Continental 4-door convertible-SS 100X) JFK was riding in on the day of his assassination (license plate number: GG300, D.C.) is on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

There were 6 passengers in the limousine: The driver was Secret Service agent Bill Greer, age 44. Seated next to him was Roy Kellerman, 48, special agent in charge of the White House Detail; behind him was Texas Gov. John Connally and his wife Nellie; and in the back was President Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy. None of these passengers are living today.

The shooting of JFK took approximately 4.6 seconds.

It took approximately 6 minutes to transport the president to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he was assigned to Trauma Room No. 1. The first to examine him was Charles J. Carrico, a second year surgical student, According to the Warren Commission Report, Dr. Fouad Bashour, chief of cardiology, Dr. M.T. Jenkins, chief of anesthesiology, and Dr. A.H. Giesecke, Jr., all joined in the effort to revive the president. Kennedy was pronounced dead by Dr. William Clark at approximately 1:00 p.m. CST.

The first news of the president being shot came at 12:36 p.m. (CST), 1: 36 p.m. (EST), when Don Gardiner of the ABC Radio network interrupted Doris Day's recording of "Hooray for Hollywood’’ to make the stunning announcement. The CBS television network followed at 12:40, when Walter Cronkite broke into the soap opera: ``As the World Turns''; NBC didn’t go live until 12: 45, when they broke away from a fashion show.

The last rites to Kennedy were administered by Father Oscar Huber of Holy Trinity Church in Dallas, who recited the words: ``Si capax ego te absolvo a peccatis tuis, in nomine Patris, et Filii et Spiritus Sancti, Amen'' (``If it is possible, I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father and the son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen''). Fr Huber then dipped his thumb in holy oil, traced the sign of the cross on Kennedy's forehead and said; ``Through this holy anointing may God forgive you whatever sins you have committed. Amen.'' The First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, softly voiced the following words: ``And let perpetual light shine upon him''. According to Fr. Huber, after the final blessing, the First Lady bent over and kissed the president.

A Footnote: Father Huber died on January 21, 1975

There were 2 Pulitzer Prizes awarded for the Kennedy Assassination. The recipients were: Merriman Smith of UPI, who was riding in the White House press pool car; and Robert H. Jackson of the Dallas Times-Herald for his historic photograph, capturing Jack Ruby plugging bullets into the chest of Lee Harvey Oswald.

According to Bowker's Books in Print Database, as of November, 2013, there have been 1,500 books published about John F. Kennedy, ranking him as the third most popular book subject among U.S. presidents, behind Abraham Lincoln (3,584) and George Washington (1,909). Specifically on the JFK assassination, Bowker lists 636 books in their database (all markets, print or ebook), which includes both adult and children’s titles and backlist as well as forthcoming titles.

On November 22, 1963, out of 552 employees in November 1963, there were 70 special agents and 8 clerks--or 14 percent of the total Secret Service work force--assigned to protect the President and vice President with 320 agents worldwide. Today, there are well over 3000 Secret Service agents worldwide.

President Kennedy had two caskets. The first, used in transit from Parkland Memorial Hospital to Bethesda Naval Hospital was an 800 pound Britannia model. Since this casket was damaged when it was removed from Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base on November 22, 1963, a second or burial casket was selected at Gawlor's Funeral Parlor in Washington, D.C.: Marcellus No. 710 of hand rubbed, 500 year old African mahogany upholstered in white rayon.

Jack Ruby, Lee Harvey Oswald’s assailant, died on January 3, 1967, in a Dallas hospital from lung cancer. He was 55.

The notorious Texas School Book Depository Company (now the Dallas County Administration Building) located on northwest corner of Elm and North Houston Streets, at the western end of downtown Dallas (411 Elm Street) moved out of the building in 1970 and relocated to North Dallas. Opened to the public in 1989, The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza (located on the 6th floor of the Dallas County Administration Building) is today a thriving repository of approximately 45,,000 items, including photographs, film and video footage, documents and artifacts, related to the assassination and legacy of President John F. Kennedy.

****

Select minute-by-minute timeline of the assassination (Eastern Standard Time) as recorded in William Manchester's Book: ``The Death of a President''

1: 30 p.m.: Lee Harvey Oswald shoots JFK from the 6th floor of the Book Depository

Smoking Habits: Kennedy smoked 4-5 cigars a day. His preference was for Upmanns or Monticellos.

JFK's Favorite Newspapers: Those read daily, included the Baltimore Sun, Chicago Tribune, The Christian Science Monitor, New York Herald Tribune, New York News, New York Times, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and the Washington Star.

Source:JOHN F. KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

****

1963: Demographics

• Federal budget reaches nearly $100 billion

• National Debt: $315 billion

• Employed: 69.8 million as of October 31, 1963

• Unemployment Rate: 5.5 percent or 3.4 million as of October 31, 1963

• Per capita annual income: $2,500

• Gross National Product: $600 billion

• Defense Spending: $52 billion

• Two-thirds of the world’s automobiles are in the United States

• First class postage stamps increased to five cents an ounce.

• Cost of a Drive-in movie? $1.50 per car

• A pound of Maxwell House coffee cost 38 cents.

• A four bedroom house in North San Bernardino, Ca. was selling for $17,100

• A subway token was 15 cents.

• A Royalite typewriter, including a carrying case, standard keyboard pica or elite was selling for $49.95.

11/08/2013

1. Toronto mayor, Rob Ford, apologizes for being hammered in public and smoking crack cocaine while in a drunken stupor.

2. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), apologized for plagiarizing or failing to properly attribute material he borrowed from Wikipedia, the Heritage Foundation, the libertarian Cato Institute and other sources in his speeches and his recently released book.

3. President Obama apologizes for cancelled health plans.

4. Lara Logan, CBS correspondent, apologizes for contradictory reports from one of her sources regarding the Benghazi attack.

6. Online auction site eBay has apologized for selling Holocaust memorabilia, including the clothes of concentration camp victims.

7. Home Depot Inc. on Thursday apologized for a tweet that showed a picture of two African-American drummers with a person in a gorilla mask in between them and asked: "Which drummer is not like the others?"

8.) New York Knicks point guard Raymond Felton apologized to fans for their slow start (1-3) and asked for their patience.

9.) Eric Erickson of the The North Carolina Department of Transportation apologized after sending out a series of bizarre traffic alert messages, warning drivers to “Stay home because of women drivers, rain, and Obamacare.”

10.) Late night TV host Jimmy Kimmel apologized to his television audience for suggesting that "killing everyone in China" could be a solution to America's debt problem.

New York
Times World: Free digital and mobile access this week, in honor of the launch
of The International New York Times http://is.gd/2pINjV

Blogger, author, and strategist Jeff Bullas took a dip into the 800 page filing for the Twitter IPO and
came up with some remarkable data about the online social networking and
microblogging service, including reporting Twitter
generates 135,000 registered accounts every day, 58 million tweets a day, with 2.1
billion searches conducted on Twitter every 24 hours. This and a boat load
of other data and fast facts about Twitter can be found at Bullas’ fact filled statistically
rich article ``60 Sensational Social Media Facts and Statistics on Twitter in
2013’’

NBC News:
Ohio lawmakers have given initial
approval to a bill that would provide Ariel Castro's three kidnapping victims
up to $25,000 for each year they were held captive, plus other benefits. http://is.gd/Im174Z

Russia
Preparing Property Restrictions for Foreigners ¬ Paper

MOSCOW, October 16 (RIA Novosti) ¬ Russia is drafting changes to the law that
will bar foreigners from owning or renting real estate in the country without
official permission, a state-owned newspaper said Wednesday. The law could come into force by 2015, officials
told the paper.

STATS OF THE DAY

1.)
Despite the ALCS tied at 2-2, the Boston Red Sox have held the lead for just 4 of 36 total innings
played.

2.)
MLB Stat of the Day: Since the ALCS expanded to 7 games (1985), the winner of Game 4 in 2-2
series has gone on to win twice (Indians in 1995, Yankees in ‘98).

The
average literacy score for Americans ages 16 to 65 places the U.S. 18th out of
22 participating countries. In numeracy, the U.S. ranks 20th out of 22. In “problem-solving in technology-rich
environments” -- a measure of the capacity to interact productively with
computers -- the U.S. comes in 14th out of 19th, according
to The Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) The Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development which evaluates
the skills of adults in 24 countries. http://is.gd/bfQQhK
.

Student
loan debt now exceeds credit card debt in the U.S. which stands at about $798
billion.

The S &P estimates the 16 day government shutdown took at least $24 billion out of the U.S. economy.

Forbes Magazine lists American business magnate,
investor and philanthropist, Mark Cuban
net wealth at $2.5 billion. Cuban
was acquitted Wednesday of insider-trading charges when he sold his shares in
an Internet company in 2004.

According to a GAO report, interest on the national debt plus entitlement programs like Social
Security and Medicare –– will absorb
approximately 92 cents of every single dollar of federal revenue before the end
of this decade.

In the
2012 presidential election, 47% of Americans used the internet as a main
campaign news source surpassing newspapers (27%), radio (20%) and magazines (3%),
but still trailing television (67%); just one of 12 trends shaping digital news
as compiled by the Pew Research Center.
http://is.gd/pWpGGG

Benchmark
crude for November delivery gained $1.08, or 1.1 percent, to close at $102.29 a
barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price of oil rose 1 percent
Wednesday as the U.S. Senate announced a deal that avoided defaulting on its
debt. The average price for a gallon of
gasoline at the pumps rose 1 cent to $3.36, 16 cents cheaper than a month ago
and 41 cents less than at this time last year.

Russia is
set to overtake Germany to become the largest car market in Europe by 2020
and the fifth largest market in the world by then, according to Boston
Consulting Group.

In 2013,
795,000 people in the United States will have a first or recurrent stroke; 1 in six people worldwide will have a
stroke in their lifetime-American Heart Association/American Stroke
Association

October 17, 1931, Chicago gangster Al Capone is found guilty in federal court on five of the 23
charges brought against him. He was found guilty of three counts of federal tax
evasion for the years, 1925, 1926, and 1927. ``Scarface’’ as he was known, was
additionally found guilty of two misdemeanor counts of ``willing failure’’ to
file a tax return for 1928 and 1929. A week later, on October 24th, he was
sentenced to 11 years in federal prison. In addition to his prison term, he was
slapped with a $50,000 fine and $30,000 in court cost fees. Capone first
started serving his sentence in Cook County Jail. On May 4, 1932, he was
transferred to Atlanta at one of the toughest penitentiaries in the country.
Once authorities learned he was receiving the comforts of prison life denied to
other prisoners, he was transferred again, this time to Alcatraz (located on an
island in San Francisco Bay) on August 18, 1934, where he was assigned to cell
181 and was given the prison number 85. After his mental capacity increasingly deteriorated
at Alcatraz, he was released in November, 1939, after serving six years and
five months at which point he entered the Baltimore State Mental Institution.

Word Origin

Galvanize, meaning to spur to action, according to William Morris'``
Dictionary of Word and Phrases’’, comes from an 18th century Italian
physiologist, Luigi Galvani, who discovered quite by accident that he could ``galvanize’’ frogs and other animals he
was working with, by subjecting them to electric shock.

Looking For a Good Quote?

``Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.’’

By 2020, an estimated one-fourth of American workers will be 55 or older, up from 19
percent in 2010.

The most calories for a single item at
McDonald's is the chocolate McCafe shake
with whipped cream and cherry-700 calories; the lowest caloric burger or sandwich is
theircheeseburger-300 calories.

The St. Louis Cardinals flame thrower Trevor
Rosenthal has not allowed a run in 11 career post-season appearances.

The Dodger’s Yasiel Puig is batting .600
(9-for-15) through four home postseason games, the highest home average in MLB.

ESPN:
``Justin Verlander is the first pitcher in postseason history to be the starter
in two games in which his team lost 1-0 in a single postseason.’’

Just 45 %
of Americans were vaccinated during last year's flu season, according the
US Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to the Washington Post, stretching
back to 1980, the debt ceiling has been
raised 42 times. It was raised 17 times under Ronald Reagan, 4 times under
Bill Clinton and 7 times under George W. Bush.

According to the Corruption Perceptions Index
(2012) Denmark, Finland and New Zealand
tie for first place as being the least corrupt countries, based in part on
their strong access to information systems and rules governing the behavior of
those in public positions, while Afghanistan,
North Korea and Somalia are the most corrupt countries based predominantly
on their lack of accountable leadership and effective public institutions.

Former
Fox News commentator Liz Cheney has raised $1.027 million since she
announced in July her intention to challenge Mike Enzi (R-WY) for his senate
seat. Enzi, by contrast, has earned
$847,646 during that same time period.

Polls/Surveys

Harris Interactive Poll: Dallas
Cowboys are the favorite team of adults who follow professional football.
The Green Bay Packers move up one spot to number 2 and the Denver Broncos make
one of the largest moves on the list, going up 14 spots to 3rd from
a tie for 17th in 2011. Rounding out the top five favorite football teams are
the New York Giants, up three spots from 7th to 4th, and the New England
Patriots, who drop from number 4 to number 5.

The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll: An all-time high 74 percent of Americans
disapprove of the way the Republicans in Congress are handling Washington’s
budget crisis; 53 percent, by contrast, disapprove of Obama’s work on the
issue-21 points lower than disapproval of the Republicans.

October 16, 1997: The first page one color photo appears in The New York Times.

A Footnote: The first color photo believed to have appeared on page
one of a major newspaper was on October 21, 1959, when the Minneapolis Star ran an Associated Press color photo of the funeral
of General C. Marshall. On June 8, 1939, AP transmitted a half-tone color
picture of President Roosevelt and King George VI from the nation's capital.

Word Origin:

Cushy: The word ``cushy'' as in ``cushy job'', comes from a Hindi
word khushi, meaning ``pleasant'' --a
slang expression used by the British in India.

09/23/2013

Amid Hillary Clinton’s march to the White House, hoping to be the first female U.S. President, few have noticed German chancellor Angela Merkel, 59, has already lapped her as the second most powerful politician in the world, according to Forbes Magazine , just a tick behind President Barack Obama and ahead of Russian president Vladimir Putin (no. 3) and departing Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke (no. 6).

Merkel or `Mutti’’ (mother of the nation) as she has been hailed for her cautious pragmatic tough-love approach to the eurozone crisis, struck big in the German national elections with her Christian Democratic Union, and their allies, the Christian Social Union in Bavaria capturing 41.5 percent of the popular vote on Sunday, their best showing in more than 20 years, winning 311 of the 630 seats in Parliament, just five votes short of a majority. According to The New York Times, Konrad Adenauer was the last chancellor to receive an absolute majority in 1957.

Merkel tried in vain to tamp down the deafening cheers of ``Angie!, Angie!,’’ at CDU headquarters; but when the roars did die down, she told her euphoric supporters, "We can celebrate tonight because we have done something fantastic’’, while urging her party to celebrate a ``super result’’ as she begins her third term.

The only downside to Merkel’s conservative party victory was that she must now find a new coalition party, since the Free Democratic Party failed to make it over the 5 percent threshold, meaning the CDU/CSU will more than likely enter into a coalition with either the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) or the Greens.

A noteworthy election casualty was the Alternative für Deutschland, the protest anti-euro party, fell just shy of the 5 percent threshold, which means only four parties, will be represented in the Bundestag.

As a further boon to Merkel’s leadership, voter turnout increased for the first time since 1998 from 70.8 percent to 72.5 percent, according to the Bild newspaper, a German tabloid.

What follows is a brief sampling of headlines in Germany, splashing news of Merkel’s remarkable election victory.

09/17/2013

As President Barack Obama, our 44th U.S. president confronts severe challenges with Syria in ensuring chemical weapons are indeed destroyed, while remaining vigilant in monitoring the danger of radical elements taking root in this tumultuous Arab republic -I often wonder how many of the former U.S. presidents (if living today) would have handled the challenges the president is facing?

As luck would have it, Chicago historian Pierce Word, has just come out with a timely new book: ``Wisdom From the Oval Office’’, a compilation of presidential quotes organized under a wide range of subjects from democracy, education, and happiness to life, liberty, trust, truth, and yes, even war.

Based on Word’s superb research in hunting down the origin of these timely quotes, let’s pretend, for a moment, that in light of the crisis in Syria, many of the former U.S. presidents (including one living president) gathered around a campfire in Washington, where they have agreed to field questions from the press corp.

Perhaps, such a press conference would have unfolded in the following manner:

Q. Was President Obama correct in asking for congressional approval before launching a strike against the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria?

A. ``The constitution vests the power of declaring war in Congress.’’

-George Washington, (letter to William Moultrie, August 28, 1793).

Q. If you were in President Obama’s shoes, how would you have handled the Syrian crisis?

A. ``Gallows ought to be the fate of all such ambitions men who would involve their country in civil wars.’’

-Andrew Jackson (letter to Rev. A.J. Crawford. May 1, 1883).

A. ``I have never advocated war except as a means of peace.’’

-Ulysses Grant (Speech in London, June 15, 1887).

A. ``War should never be entered upon until every agency of peace has failed.’’

-William McKinley Jr., (Inaugural Address, March 4, 1897).

A. ``More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginning of all wars-yes, an end to this brutal, inhuman thoroughly impractical method of settling the differences between governments.’’

A. ``We cannot be both the world’s leading champion of peace and the world’s leading supplier of weapons of war.’’

-Jimmy Carter, Statement to Arms Control Association during the 1976 Presidential Campaign.

Q. Why do you think President Obama faced such passionate criticism at home over launching an attack against Syria, even if it were ``unbelievably small’’ to use Secretary of State John Kerry’s words? Most public opinion polls were overwhelming against the United States striking Syria.

A. ``There is a power in public opinion in this country-and I thank God for it.’’

-Martin Van Buren, (Speech at the U.S. Senate, December 5, 1837).

A. ``Public opinion in this country is all-powerful.’’

-James Buchanan (Speech to Congress; January 8, 1861).

A. ``I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis.’’

-Abraham Lincoln (speech to the House of Representative, January 12, 1848).

A. ``Theultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressman and government officials, but the voters of this country.’’

-Franklin Roosevelt, Address at Marietta, Ohio, July 8, 1938

Q. Many are of the strong belief that if President Obama had not threatened to strike Syria and asked for a congressional authority for such an act, it would not have resulted in a non-aggression peace agreement like the one that was hammered out between Russia, the United States and the Assad regime in Geneva. Do you agree with that argument?

A. ``It is an unfortunate fact that we can secure peace only by preparing for war.’’

Q. With a military strike against Syria having been abated, at least for the time being, and the American public’s distaste for war having reached a fever pitch, are we entering a new phase of American diplomacy in which peaceful solutions, if given enough time to develop, will take center stage?

A. ``Time and the world do not stand still.’’

-John F. Kennedy (Speech in the Assembly Hall at Paulskirche in Frankfurt, Germany, June 25, 1963).

A. ``No one need think that the world can be ruled without blood. The civil sword must be red and bloody.’’

Q. What would you say to those who argue the United States has overextended itself abroad (consider Iraq, Afghanistan, and now potentially Syria), and should therefore devote more of its attention and financial resources to domestic needs, such as education, unemployment, and taking a hard look at the plight of America’s inner cities? Our military engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan, after all, hasn’t exactly earned us many friends around the world.

A. ``Let every nation know whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty.’’

-John F. Kennedy, (Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961).

A. ``The right of a nation to kill a tyrant in case of necessity can no more be doubted than to hang a robber, or kill a flea.’’

-John Adams, (In his ``Defense of Constitutions of Government’’ (1787).

A. ``Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.’’

-Thomas Jefferson, (Letter to Isaac Tiffany, April 4, 1819).

A. ``The only sure way of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protects the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over the government.

-Franklin Roosevelt (Fireside Chat, April 14, 1938).

A. ``We have entered an age in which education is not just a luxury permitting some men an advantage over others. It has become a necessity without which a person is defenseless in this complex, industrialized society.’’

-Lyndon Johnson (Remarks at the dedication at the Crossland Vocational Center in Camp Springs, Maryland, April 27, 1967).

Q. Why has President Obama received such heavy criticism, not only with in his initial threats of striking Syria, but even with his stewardship of the economy?

A. ``I report to you that our country is challenged at home and abroad.’’

-Lyndon Johnson, (State of the Union Address, January 17, 1968).

``He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help.’’

-Abraham Lincoln (As quoted in Forbes Magazine, 1960).

Q. What type of counsel would you give President Obama on the agreement that was reached between Russia and the United States in which Syria will allow its stockpile of chemical weapons to be removed or destroyed by next year?

A. ``Trust, but verify.’’

-Ronald Reagan, (remark at the signing of the INF treaty, Washington D.C., December 8, 1987).

09/02/2013

Six weeks on the New York Times’ Best Seller’s list and still going strong.

``This Town’’ Mark Leibovich’s brilliantly written poke-in-the-eye treatise, concerning the shameless sect of self-promoters and nattering nabobs of narcissism that inhabit the nation’s capital is arguably the best read of the summer.

And for those Beltway narcissists, hoping to pick up the best-seller for no other reason than to see IF and WHERE they were referred to in the 368 pages of text-they’ll be sorely disappointed to learn-there’s no index. Imagine, having to read the entire book to discover if you were mentioned, whether you sustained heavy damage, or were thankfully spared the ravages of Hurricane Leibovich. Come to think of it, maybe this prize-winning American journalist and author is on to something that others will duplicate.

Mr. Leibovich, chief national correspondent for The New York Times’ Magazine, based in Washington, D.C., isn’t shy about skewering the high and mighty in his broad sweep of the nation’s capital: not the host of NBC’s Meet the Press, David Gregory, as his ratings continue to plunge, not Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC’s Hardball, who Leibovich describes as a representative of a`` loosely credentialed self-interested performers whose primary job is remaining on TV’’; and certainly not Arianna Huffington, co-founder of the Huffington Post and empress of the blogosphere (and screaming headlines) who launched an online bellum sacrum (Holy War!) against Tim Russert before his untimely death in June, 2008. Not even the invincible Clinton’s were spared. ``The Clinton’s are pros at death and sickness’’ Leibovich writes, implying, of course, that Bill and Hill have a Ph.D. in death and dying, especially when they’re under the klieg lights.

The only time Leibovich seems to pull his punches is when it comes to his own employer, The New York Times; as if somehow they're above it all. Aren’t they schmoozing with Obama‘s power brokers like the rest of the ``media industrial complex’’ he scorns? Why is it that a vast majority of Times’ staffers somehow only land on round table discussions when they have something to promote; how about the self-aggrandizing tweets (informing their followers when they’re about to appear on a news cable program), along with Times blatant smugness in being above having to display reporters company emails to its over 20 million loyal online readers?

Wasting little time, Leibovich discharges a spray of bullets in the Prologue, when discussing the funeral of the mayor of D.C.’s power elite, Tim Russert, the rosy-cheeked leprechaun and host of the number one rated Sunday news program, Meet the Press, who died from a sudden cardiac arrest on June 13, 2008. He was 58.

The funeral for the wildly popular and titular head of ``The Club’’ was attended by anyone who was anybody in Washington: from the titans of Capitol Hill to seemingly any political reporter with a Twitter account. Leibovich describes in shocking detail how mourners stormed Washington's National Cathedral not so much to grieve the heartbreaking loss of Washington’s most esteemed journalist; but to hobnob with the powerful, jockeying to ``outgrieve each other’’, while others shamelessly stuffed business cards into the hands of Joe Scarborough, host of the influential weekday morning talk show, ``Morning Joe’’ on MSNBC.

Such a revolting backdrop encapsulated Washington at its very worst; and set the tone for what was to come.

Raging like a wildfire through ``This Town’’ is the clubbiness, celebritizing, and narcissistic culture of the entrenched beltway social order; what’s most important is getting your name mentioned on Politico Mike Allen’s daily ``Playbook’’ , either by acknowledging your birthday or reporting who was spotted at some frivolous wine and cheese party among the chattering classes of Washington’s elite. Only the most privileged club members are worthy of a complimentary hat tip (h/t) by Allen when alerting him of a notable birthday.

Leibovich chronicles just how little regard editors of Politico have for those outside the beltway or restricted members to ``The Club’’, as was the case when Alexander Burns (at the urging of editor John Harris) wrote a piece (March 13, 2012) about voters being stupid. Implicit in the item: you have to be a member of ``The Club’’ in order to understand the most compelling issues facing the country. With such unabashed bluster and contempt for the average voter by a mostly white, male, 40-something news organization-one wonders if Groucho Marx were around today as a credentialed White House correspondent, if he would have told John Harris in a webcast of his own: ``Thanks! but I do not care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members.’’

Though Leibovich’s frequent rants against Washington’s media elite is fun and highly entertaining, (definitely a must read for anyone who hasn’t yet cracked its covers), there’s a much larger and sharper component of ``This Town’’ which concerns how people used to come to Washington to serve in the public interest-and after their tour of duty was completed-they would simply recede deep into the night, rarely to be heard from again.

Not so anymore.

Over the last decade, maybe longer, Washington has manufactured a cottage industry of shrewd political consultants, political media analysts, highly paid lobbyists, a magical mystery tour of speaking engagements (charging astronomical fees), and inking lucrative book deals, mostly by former members of Congress or members of past administrations. Remaining in Washington to shop your wares to the highest bidder seems to be the only game in town these days. As Leibovich aptly puts it: `` Washington-like high school-used to be a transient culture. People would expect to graduate eventually or drop out. But almost no one leaves here anymore.''

Robert Gibbs, the former press secretary to President Obama, having accumulated about $2 million in speaking fees since leaving his post in 2011, and former Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott who has amassed a handsome fortune of his own as a Washington-based lobbyist, are just two prime examples of how greed and glitz are the new norm for former public servants.

The most stinging indictment, persuasively advanced by Leibovich, of the corrupting influence of the Washington elite on its inhabitants surrounds the disappointing transformation of Barack Obama, who came to the White House, after all, promoting himself as an agent of change (Recall: ``Change we can believe in" and the chant "Yes We Can!’’) but in the end, as Gibbs once said in a White House staff meeting: ``Somehow we have all changed….or maybe Washington just changed us.’’

***

With my curiosity piqued over just how well Leibovich’s best-seller is being received among his Washington contemporaries, I thought I would reach out to see if any would like to offer their reactions to the book.

Here, then, are some responses which came back:

• ``I read it, found it largely accurate but too snarky for my tastes, in fact tasteless in a few places. I wondered what party did he not get invited to that made him this angry.''-Charlie Cook, political analyst for the National Journal who additionally writes election forecasts and rankings in The Cook Political Report.

• ``I thought it was very good and did capture Washington perfectly.''-Sally Quinn, American author and journalist, who writes about religion for a blog at The Washington Post. Quinn is married to Ben Bradlee, former executive editor of the Post from 1968 to 1991 and currently its vice president at-large.

• ``I'm only halfway through, but so far it's delightful. It's well reported. His observations are largely spot on. And his writing is fiendishly clever.''-Steve Thomma, politics editor for McClatchy Newspapers.

• ``I thought it was an entertaining read ... although I have a less-cynical view of Washington generally.''-Jonathan Karl, Chief White House Correspondent for ABC News.

Recommended Websites/Blogs

Personal Website of Hedrick SmithHedrick Smith, Pulitzer Prize-winning former New York Times reporter and editor and Emmy award-winning producer/correspondent, has established himself over the past 50 years of his career as one of America’s most distinguished journalists.

Personal Website of Kristen Millares YoungThe work of Kristen Millares Young, a prize-winning investigative reporter has been featured by The New York Times, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, KUOW-FM and elsewhere.

FrameworkPhotography Blog of the Los Angeles Times: ``Capturing the world through photography, video and multimedia.''

Newsroom HistoryThe goal of Newsroom History is to make a connection to our collective past and celebrate our history.